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Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

Hey all, I've got a question for any Pacers fans in the Fort Wayne market.

I live south of FW about 15 miles, but my satellite package is based out of Fort Wayne. I had Dish for several years and got the majority of the Pacer games, although not many in HD. Last September I switched to DirecTV, which has been great. Well, except for the fact that all of the sudden Pacer games were blacked out. I ended up getting League Pass anyway, so I was able to watch all the games on FSI. However, I'm not planning on renewing LP this season, and I'm wondering if I'll run into more issues with Dish.

When I called last year, they assured me that I was in the viewing area. When the games were blacked out, they couldn't figure out why and ended up telling me the only way I could get the games was with LP.

Anyone in Fort Wayne have DirecTV and are able to get the games? I'm really hoping that I don't run into this again...

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

Hey all, I've got a question for any Pacers fans in the Fort Wayne market.

I live south of FW about 15 miles, but my satellite package is based out of Fort Wayne. I had Dish for several years and got the majority of the Pacer games, although not many in HD. Last September I switched to DirecTV, which has been great. Well, except for the fact that all of the sudden Pacer games were blacked out. I ended up getting League Pass anyway, so I was able to watch all the games on FSI. However, I'm not planning on renewing LP this season, and I'm wondering if I'll run into more issues with Dish.

When I called last year, they assured me that I was in the viewing area. When the games were blacked out, they couldn't figure out why and ended up telling me the only way I could get the games was with LP.

Anyone in Fort Wayne have DirecTV and are able to get the games? I'm really hoping that I don't run into this again...

I'm on Dish and I get almost every game that FSI carries. I think I only missed 4 or 5 games last year. I'm not sure what the deal is with DirectTV but when I had them 8 years or so ago I had more issues with blackouts and such than I do with Dish.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
- Benjamin Franklin

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

I'm on Dish and I get almost every game that FSI carries. I think I only missed 4 or 5 games last year. I'm not sure what the deal is with DirectTV but when I had them 8 years or so ago I had more issues with blackouts and such than I do with Dish.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of.

Here's the deal with DirecTV:

To get regional sports channels, you have to pay about $13/month. Over the course of the season that works out to about $80(Nov-Apr X $13). League Pass is approximately $100 more, and I can usually get it down to about $125/$150. That means I can spend an extra $10-$15 a month to get all of the games, as well as mobile/broadband access.

As you can see, I'll be able to rationalize it...but I'd rather just spend the $80 and get FSI. Regardless, thanks everyone for the input! As usual, customer service wasn't any help (What game would you like to watch sir? Pacers? Ok, just a moment. Alright, that'll be on Fox Sports Indiana, channel 673. What's that? It's blacked out? Hmm, let me look. Well, sir, it appears that game is blacked out in your area. Is it on another channel? No? Um, I'm not sure...usually it's because it's on a local or national channel. Oh, maybe you're out of the broadcast area. What's that? Dish/Comcast? Let me get a manager.)

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

My guess is that DirecTV is defining where the FSI "region" ends, and doing it in a manner inconsistent with cable or dish (or reality).

If you aren't in the normal FSI area by DirecTV terms then what you are doing is basically the same as tuning to FX Bay Area. You see pre-game and then when the Warriors game actually starts you get blacked out. You don't get NBA games on FoxSports even if you pay for the FS package (without LP that is).

So you need to talk to someone at DirecTV and get them to change the boundary of where the local Indy market ends, and having 2 options to switch to which do count FW as part of the Indy area (for FSI purposes) might go a long way to doing that.

But as you well know, that phone call will be a chore because you must tunnel through a bunch of script readers to get to anyone that actually matters.

I opened this expecting to see an answer because I was certain we had some FW DirecTV users on here. Obviously no joy so far. And really unless they've worked a special deal or you have something uniquely wrong with where DirecTV thinks your account is actually at, then they are probably just going to confirm what you've already found.

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

I'm on Dish and I get almost every game that FSI carries. I think I only missed 4 or 5 games last year. I'm not sure what the deal is with DirectTV but when I had them 8 years or so ago I had more issues with blackouts and such than I do with Dish.

Absolutely! I had Directv a few years back and they were horrible about this sort of thing. I live about fifty miles south of Indpls, in Brown County, and have never had an issue with getting the games by local cable or with Dish Network. Directv seems to have their own set of rules (as opposed to NBA rules) about blackouts. Oh, they will tell you they are just following the league's policy concerning blackouts, but don't buy it.

If you call them, be sure to ask for "customer retention", those are possibly the only people who can do anything for you.

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Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

Remember FSI is just a local alternative channel to FSMW. Comcast actually switches the FSMW channel to the FSI feed, while when I was on Dish it created an alternative channel. The bar down the road has DirecTV and we end up having to search through channels every time to figure out which one is FSI this time.

BillS

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

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Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

I have DirecTV in Kokomo, and I had a similar experience with black-out issues last year. I had a black-out message on my screen for 3 games, yet all my friends were able to watch it. I called support and they couldn't figure out what was going on, and told me I would need league pass blah blah. It turned out resetting my receiver worked every time. Maybe you had something similar happen to you.

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

I'm pretty sure Dish doesn't put games on FSI, but rather an alternative channel. It's usually something like 447.

It is usally 447 and it is usually an alternate sports channel but it is usually FSI's feed. I think Tom hit it on the head - DirectTV has their own rules. My guess is that most people who encounter this will just order NBA League Pass and move on.

@Derek2k3 - if remember correctly I used to have to order the regional sports package AND the League Pass to get all of the games when I had Direct - hopefully this has changed.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
- Benjamin Franklin

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

It turned out resetting my receiver worked every time. Maybe you had something similar happen to you.

When it comes to random blackouts or ANYTHING with Directv... 99 times out of a 100 a receiver reset clears it.

"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

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Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

I have DirecTV in Kokomo, and I had a similar experience with black-out issues last year. I had a black-out message on my screen for 3 games, yet all my friends were able to watch it. I called support and they couldn't figure out what was going on, and told me I would need league pass blah blah. It turned out resetting my receiver worked every time. Maybe you had something similar happen to you.

When it comes to random blackouts or ANYTHING with Directv... 99 times out of a 100 a receiver reset clears it.

No kidding. A simple reset/reboot did it?

Well, I'll probably wait until the season starts to deal with this, hopefully that's all that happened. Spazzxb has given me hope that I was just unlucky, so I'll just get after the DirecTV people to give me a straight answer.

They usually end up giving me a decent deal (Sunday Ticket Max this season ran me $125 after I called) so I don't mind sticking with them IF they don't jerk me around with regards to my Pacer games.

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

I live in Huntington, IN (about 20 miles SW of Fort Wayne). I have always been able to receive all the FSI HD games on DirecTV channel 673-1. Never once have I had any blackout issues.

What the heck...I live in Bluffton, my brothers girlfriend goes to school in Huntington/I get my motorcycle serviced there. But that makes me think I had some stupid glitch or something, thanks for the heads up dude!

Man, with all of these fans in the general area we should do a game meetup sometime at Wings Etc/BW3/Wrigleys.

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

What the heck...I live in Bluffton, my brothers girlfriend goes to school in Huntington/I get my motorcycle serviced there. But that makes me think I had some stupid glitch or something, thanks for the heads up dude!

Man, with all of these fans in the general area we should do a game meetup sometime at Wings Etc/BW3/Wrigleys.

Seriously, thanks everyone.

I live about 25 minutes south of Bluffton and I have had Directv for years. I subscribe to the Sports Pack, and I have never had any problems getting the games.

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

What the heck...I live in Bluffton, my brothers girlfriend goes to school in Huntington/I get my motorcycle serviced there. But that makes me think I had some stupid glitch or something, thanks for the heads up dude!

Man, with all of these fans in the general area we should do a game meetup sometime at Wings Etc/BW3/Wrigleys.

Seriously, thanks everyone.

Also, I don't subscribe to the sports pack or anything, don't think the extra expense is worth it since I'm a season ticket holder & go to all the games anywas!

Also, I don't subscribe to the sports pack or anything, don't think the extra expense is worth it since I'm a season ticket holder & go to all the games anywas!

Wait, you're saying you get FSI without subscribing to the Sports Pack? What package do you have? Unless I upgrade to the top-end DirecTV package, I have to pay extra for the Sports Pack just to get access to the Fox Sports channels

Re: Fox Sports Indiana in Fort Wayne

Supposedly you should get your local Fox channel without paying an uplift to the sports package. Sometimes you need a minor uplift to get the alternative channel - we had to add FSI to my dad's Dish for $5 per month at one point.

BillS

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...